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Media
Wogan says BBC talent should accept pay cuts
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 5 July 2010
Following an admission last week by BBC Trust boss Michael Lyons that he was now of the opinion the Beeb should reveal what it pays its on-screen and on-air talent, one of the Corporation’s top presenters has said a lot of that talent has to accept they are being paid too much.
Lyons has long backed BBC management who have resisted numerous attempts, mainly by political types, to force the Corporation to reveal what it pays actors, DJs, presenters and such like, in much the same way it reveals what executives get paid. BBC chiefs have long said revealing talent pay would contravene confidentiality clauses included in most presenter contracts, and would also make future talent reticent about working with the Corporation. Lyons previously agreed, but said in a speech last week that he now accepts the Beeb can no longer keep talent pay packets secret in the long term.
Already some in the talent, and particularly talent agent, community have started criticising any moves by the BBC to make such information public, now or in the future. It’s thought many who oppose the move do so not out of a fear of the public backlash that may occur when the size of their fee is revealed, but more out of a fear of embarrassment when rivals realise they are actually getting paid a lot less than most people thought.
Meanwhile, Terry Wogan this weekend told the Mail On Sunday BBC talent had to accept the era of mega-buck deals is over in British television, especially licence-fee funded TV. He told the paper: ”If they’re going to start cutting working people’s wages, you can’t say you’re in a privileged position because you work in television. Frankly, salaries were far too high. They could stand to take a 10-15% cut. If the public sector is taking that, I see no reason why everybody shouldn’t”.
He added: ”The good old days have passed. You have to be responsible. The audience would be unhappy if they thought you were being overpaid. Look how the public reacted to, say, Jonathan Ross. People are worried where their hard-earned money is going, and the BBC is a visible target”.
